It’s tough living in a parent’s shadow, but for Nick Simmons, the son of KISS founder Gene Simmons, life has become a whole lot harder living in the shadow of public scrutiny.
On Feb. 25, Radical Publishing announced that they have halted production of the 21-year-old’s manga series Incarnate following an investigation of plagiarism.
“We at Radical Publishing Inc. and Radical Comics are quite concerned to hear the news surrounding Nick Simmon’s Incarnate comic book,” they said. “We have halted further production and distribution of the Incarnate comic book and trade paperback until the matter is resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.”
Three single-issues of the book had been released in August 2009, and the collected volume was being published for release later this year.
The accusations floating around the series started on the popular gaming Web site GameFAQ, accusing Simmons of stealing plot elements, dialogue and designs from eight different manga, including the popular 2001 series Bleach, which has sold 50 million copies in Japan.
A Bleach fan site entitled “The Bleachness,” and magnetic-rose.net has posted side-by-side comparisons of Incarnate and Bleach to prove that Simmons has in fact plagiarized.
When comparing the pages from each book, it’s easy to see that Simmon’s version is a full proof lift of Bleach, with similarities straight down to the etching of the characters and word-for-word dialogue.
Simmons came out with a public apology via Facebook.
“Like most artists, I am inspired by work I admire. There are certain similarities between some of my work and the work of others,” he said. “This was simply meant as a homage to artists I respect, and I definitely want to apologize to any manga fans or fellow manga artists who feel I went too far.”
If Simmons hadn’t received enough scathing for his misguided error, he acknowledged his love for Bleach in his statement, alluding to the fact that he is familiar with the design, layout and plot of Tite Kubo’s popular series.
Several manga Web sites and fan sites are still not buying Simmons’ public sympathy.
“Note that he doesn’t acknowledge he went beyond ‘homage’ to flat-out copies,” Johanna Draper Carlson, a manga reviewer at comicsworthreading.com said.
A Facebook group was created in late February named “Calling for legal action against Nick Simmons for plagiarism of other works.”
However, out of everyone who took this scandal personally, Kubo seemed more amused than anything.
“I’m more interested in the fact that Gene Simmons’ son is a mangaka than whether he’s plagiarizing me or not,” Kubo said via Twitter.
Simmons currently stars in an A&E reality series Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels, alongside his father, his sister Sophie and his mother Shannon Tweed. At the 2009 Comic-Con, Radical Publishing sponsored an “exclusive invitation-only rock concert extravaganza” at the Hard Rock Café in San Diego to celebrate the release of the first issue. The comic is sold online on the A&E Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels Web site.
Ironically, Simmons’ DeviantArt account warns other artists about stealing artwork. In his first journal entry, dating back to Nov. 2008, he wrote, “If you steal my artwork, you will pay. In cash.”
